Contemplating Grace

Monday, December 16, 2024 Advent: Love, Day 2 Reading: “(Love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” [1] Reflection: The opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is apathy – not caring, not seeing another, acting as if the other does not exist or that I have … Continue reading Contemplative Christmas

Sunday, December 15, 2024 Advent: Love, Day 1 Reading: “If I give away all my possessions…but do not have love, I gain nothing.” [1] Reflection: The third theme of Advent is Love, a term which so has many meanings and applications in English as to almost be meaningless. With respect to the birth of the … Continue reading Contemplative Christmas

Advent: Peace, Day 7 Reading: “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” [1] Reflection: For lasting peace to prevail between two people or nations, there must first exist a foundation of mutual respect, some degree of understanding of the other, and an acknowledgement that all points of view have … Continue reading Contemplative Christmas

Advent: Peace, Day 6 Reading: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” [1] Reflection: How has Christmas, the celebration, strayed so far from its origins? Did not the angels sing of “Peace on Earth” in Bethlehem 2000 years ago? Was that peace intended to apply to … Continue reading Contemplative Christmas

Advent: Peace, Day 4 Reading: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” [1] Reflection: In war, peace comes when one side surrenders to the other. In business, peace may come through consensus where competing sides find a resolution that … Continue reading Contemplative Christmas

Advent: Peace, Day 4 Reading: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” [1] Reflection: In war, peace comes when one side surrenders to the other. In business, peace may come through consensus where competing sides find a resolution that … Continue reading Contemplative Christmas

Advent: Peace, Day 3 Reading: “Christmas comes with many assumptions – some helpful, some not so much. Spirituality also comes with many assumptions, and the ones that fail us are the ones we make about what it’s supposed to look like, who is worthy for it to happen to, and what kind of outcome it’s … Continue reading Contemplative Christmas

Advent: Peace, Day 2 Reading: “He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in the place of the two, thus making peace.” [1] Reflection: The more than 600 laws set out in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) to guide Jewish … Continue reading Contemplative Christmas

Advent: Peace, Day 1 Reading: “For a child has been born for us…and he is named…Prince of Peace” [1] Reflection: Peace, the third theme of Advent, springs from the Hope we find as we experience Emmanuel – God with us. Peace comes as we learn to trust that God’s presence within us is real, even … Continue reading Contemplative Christmas